I'm feeling my way back to my roleplaying roots: freeform gaming. I started refereeing in 1984, but my way of GM’ing changed only seven years later, when Amber Diceless was published. A little later, Theatrix was born. These two games, and later, Everway, catapulted me into the world of diceless (and sometimes, randomlesy) gaming. Or group's best and most enduring memories have their origins in diceless freeform.
Some of you may know the term "
Free Kriegsspiel". I fun this way of freeform gaming, either with or without randomizers, "free Abenteuerspiel".
Today I would like to look at a typical conflict from the perspective of Theatrix. How does it handle fights?
Theatrix has, besides Amber and Everway, the most comprehensive tips for a diceless game. One of the ingenious innovations of Theatrix were flowcharts, with which the (beginner) GM could quickly and reliably determine whether actions of player characters succeed or fail. A while ago I extended this flow chart by the aspect of RANDOMNESS, in case the gamemaster wants to include dice or cards (Everway) in his decision. The graphic above is this extended decision diagram.
Let's get started!
The situation:
The player character is in Naples, somewhere in the shady thicket of alleys. It's lunchtime, the sun is burning from the sky, and whoever can, has sought shelter in the shadows. Everywhere in the city there are chairs outside, people are enjoying their coffee, fruit dealers have put out their small stands, tourists are buzzing around.
Our character turns the corner, overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle, and suddenly a huge guy in a dark suit and sunglasses is standing opposite him, with clearly hostile intent. The character turns around and wants to run away, but behind him there is also a broad-shouldered man with sunglasses.
Our character is ex - special forces. He has no tools (not even a car key) with him that he could use to his advantage.
The two gangsters represent a roughly equal threat to our character. They are a clear challenge. A direct attack against them would not end well for our ex-wife forces guy.
As the game master, I now take a look at the flowchart l.
First box: Does the plot line require some particular outcome?
No, I didn't plan anything like that as game master.
Second box: Do you want to evoke some randomness?
No, I do not want to use random generators for this conflict.
Third box: Skill vs. Difficulty. Are they capable of the action?
As the game master, I can now decide whether to treat the conflict as a single, entire scene (and therefore use the flowchart only once), or whether I judge each individual action of the character. I go for the second variant.
Game master: So the two guys are in front and behind you. The whole alley is full of people, all close together. What are you doing?
Gambler (grabs his heart, gasps, lets his tongue hang out, slurs out loud, then:) I stagger like this towards one of the thugs.
Gamemaster (notices that the player is acting really well for his circumstances - that's one of the criteria in the decision making process: How well does the player act? If he acts badly by his own standards, his character's action is considered a failure. But with this rule, we have seen many a player transforming from wallflower to actor in the long years of our game): The guy recedes, irritated, and perhaps a little disgusted.
Player: Cool! When I am very close...
Game master: Yes, now you are very close to him.
Player: ...then I grab his balls and squeeze with all my strength. (gestures) My other hand grabs his throat and squeezes.
Again, the box: Skill vs. Difficulty. Are they capable of the action?
Definitely. The character is experienced in combat. Dirty tricks are part of his standard repertoire.
Next box: Release the Tension and tell them now?
I choose "more tension". The corresponding box is "Give them reason to Doubt. Let Victory be Uncertain. And the victory is not yet in the bag - the other gangster is still around.
Game master (acting out the futile resistance of the gangster against our guy's technique, gasping for air, flailing around with his arms, and finally collapsing onto the ground): The guy collapses lifelessly in your arms. You hear some terrified screams from bystanders. The other thug is leaping at you.
Player: Oh! Oh! I push the one I just KOed into him, with full force! Let's get out of here!
And again the box: Skill vs. Difficulty. Are they capable of the action?
Are they capable of the action? Any normal-built adult can shove another normal-built adult anywhere. So, yes.
Next box: Release the Tension and tell them now?
Again, I decide to let the player sweat a little more.
So the next box is, again: "Give them reason to Doubt. Let Victory be Uncertain.
Now I can, for instance, add a wild chase through the city, if I want to. But regardless: our character will be successful.
